Flix for Chix
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Flix for Chix Schedule for January – June 2010
Every Fourth Tuesday of the month at 7:00 PM
Porter Meeting Hall, Elm St. entrance. A $5 donation will benefit the library. For information regarding changes or cancellation, call 563-5513.
Skidompha’s “Flix for Chix” committee is pleased to announce the launch of a new film series. These films have been selected with womens’ interests in mind, hence, the title of the series. Naturally, “chix” can bring along their “roosters” if they wish–everyone is welcome. We have been eager to institute a second film series for adults to complement our long-standing Classic Films series. We hope you find the selections compelling and an opportunity to get together with friends for a “chix nite out.” And please let us know what you think of the new program!
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Jan. 26… Tea with Mussolini (1999, PG, 116 min.)
Based in part on writer director Franco Zeffirelli’s childhood in Italy, “Tea With Mussolini” is a drama with comedic accents about a group of British and American women on an extended visit to Italy in 1935, when, as one character puts it, “Mussolini was just a man who made the trains run on time.” The Englishwomen at first believe the leader will protect them from war’s gathering storm clouds and arrange a polite meeting with Mussolini to make sure he means well.
Luca is an illegitimate child living in Florence whose mother has died. Fortunately, the boy is a welcome guest for Mary (Joan Plowright), an English woman soaking up Italian culture. Mary and her friends, Lady Hester (Maggie Smith), Arabella (Judi Dench), American art collector Elsa (Cher) and anthropologist Georgie (Lily Tomlin), will do whatever they must to protect the child and preserve their way of life. Maggie Smith earned a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress.
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Feb. 23… Truly, Madly, Deeply (1991, PG, 107 min.)
Nina (Juliet Stevenson), an interpreter, is beside herself with grief at the recent death of her boyfriend, Jamie (Alan Rickman), a cellist. She is on the verge of not coping with life, when Jamie reappears as a “ghost” and the couple are reconciled – either in Nina’s imagination or in an actual reunion. Nina is ecstatic, but Jamie’s behavior gradually exasperates her, though she still loves him.
She meets Mark, a psychologist, but is unwilling to become involved with him. Jamie decides to leave to allow her to move on. A common interpretation is that Jamie’s return was to remind Nina that he was not perfect and to drive this point so that she could let go. Another interpretation is simply that one must move on or die with the loved one. The film’s combination of serious themes with comic scenes, music and strong performances from the actors made it very successful. It won several awards, including a BAFTA for best original screenplay. Rickman and Stevenson were BAFTA-nominated for best actor and actress.
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March 23… Room with a View (1985, NR, 117 min.)
When Lucy Honeychurch (Helena Bonham Carter) and her chaperon, Charlotte Bartlett (Maggie Smith), arrive at their pensione in Florence, they are troubled by the fact that their rooms have no view. Fellow British guests, Mr. Emerson (Denholm Elliott) and handsome son George (Julian Sands) offer to exchange rooms with them.
Superbly adapted from E.M. Forster’s novel, the film includes an abundance of humor, a passionate romance, and a study of repression within the British class system. It’s that system that prevents Lucy from accepting the advances of Julian, who fears that she will continue with her engagement to a priggish intellectual (Daniel Day-Lewis). Lucy and Charlotte are conventionally English, in contrast with the more free-spirited backdrop of Italy. The men represent the forward-thinking ideals of the turn-of-the-20th-century, when Victorian mores were becoming outmoded.
During and after her trip to Italy, Lucy gradually gets in touch with her true emotions. The fun comes from seeing how Lucy’s thoughts and feelings finally arrive at the same romantic conclusion. “Room…” received eight Academy Award nominations, won for Best Adapted Screenplay, Art Direction, & Costume Design, and won five BAFTAs.
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April 27… Enchanted April (1992, PG, 93 min.)
We’re off to Italy again! “Enchanted April” is the film version of a 1922 novel by Elizabeth von Arnim. Rose and Lottie (Miranda Richardson and Josie Lawrence), two women living in 1920’s London, share the misery of empty relationships with their spouses and decide to rent a place in Italy during the spring. They advertise for two women to join them and share expenses. Mrs. Fisher (Joan Plowright), a widow, is struggling with a lonely existence and jumps at the chance. Lady Caroline Dester (Polly Walker) is a gorgeous flapper who is sick of men, or so she thinks.
They arrive at a seaside Italian chateau drenched in wisteria and sunshine, a beauty so enchanting that they experience transformations they thought impossible. The film is gorgeous; the scenery breathtaking. The women explore the differences in their personalities and come to grips with their lives and relationships. The film received three Oscar nominations. Richardson and Plowright earned Golden Globes.
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May 25… Calendar Girls (2003, PG-13, 108 min.)
Based on true events, this good-humored comedy is about middle-aged women in Yorkshire, England, who are photographed for their Women’s Institute annual calendar. Chris (Helen Mirren) has the generous idea to raise funds for the hospital after Annie’s (Julie Walters) husband dies of leukemia. Annie’s husband had given a talk at the Institute, saying “the flowers of Yorkshire are like the women of Yorkshire” and “the last phase of the women of Yorkshire is always the most glorious.” This calendar is a bit different from their usual because each woman of a certain age is posing discreetly nude, while performing an everyday task, such as flower arranging, knitting, making buns, and playing the piano.
The calendar is a big success. The tiny village is bombarded with members of the media anxious to report the feel-good story. Of course, fame goes to their heads, a little, for a while. All is eventually resolved, as one might expect. “Calendar Girls” won the British Comedy Award for best film and won Best Screenplay from the Bordeaux International Festival of Women in Cinema. It was nominated for a Golden Globe.
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June 22… Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994, R, 118 min.)
“Four Weddings and a Funeral” is a modern comedy with a traditional theme. The film follows the adventures of a group of friends through the eyes of Charles, a debonair but faux pas-prone Englishman, played by Hugh Grant, who becomes smitten with Carrie (Andie MacDowell), an attractive American. They repeatedly meet at weddings and at a funeral. Director Mike Newell and writer Richard Curtis blend good breeding and bad language; laughter and tears; and marriage and friendship into a remarkably enjoyable whole.
Charles is a “serial monogamist.” His friends have started down the matrimonial road, but not Charles. Thoughts of spending the rest of his life with someone never enter his head until he encounters Carrie. Although the two enjoy a brief tryst, Charles’ typical British reticence kicks in — until they meet again and again. While the central story is fairly typical of a romantic comedy, it is framed with plot twists and turns. Newell (“Enchanted April”), allows the script and his actors to carry the film in a mix of lightheartedness and some pathos. “Four Weddings…,” won four BAFTAs.
